


The Journey Home

by Aquatigermice



Series: A series of different events [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Animal Death, Avengers Family, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, F/M, Fly Away Home AU, Found Family, Geese, Harm to Animals, Healing, Kid Fic, Language of Flowers, M/M, Mini Avengers, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23231044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquatigermice/pseuds/Aquatigermice
Summary: This is the story of a boy on the cusp of manhood, a brainwashed centennial, and a workaholic genius became both parents and the world-leading superhero consultants on raising geese.Or how after the fall of SHIELD Tony went looking for Bucky and got more than he bargained for.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Series: A series of different events [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1296452
Comments: 8
Kudos: 58
Collections: Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	The Journey Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lomku](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lomku/gifts), [Bakageta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bakageta/gifts).
  * Inspired by [unexpected company](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/569635) by oluka. 



> This story was beta by Bakageta for Fandom Trumps Hate 2020. Thanks so much for being patience with me and for all the help. :)
> 
> This story started off by me seeing this fanart: https://oluka.tumblr.com/post/185754691306/oluka-unexpected-company. My mind saw it and joined it with the movie Fly Away Home. And this is what we got.

Tony liked to think of himself as a nice man. When something was wrong he liked to fix it. He was a mechanic after all so it happened naturally.

So after he heard about SHIELD falling and Hydra still being around he felt he had to do something. Especially after the data dump. So much information had been put out there so carelessly, but he and Jarvis were doing their best to clean it up.

Cleaning it up meant that they came across information that Tony wasn’t prepared to face. But there it was: detailed records of the murder of Howard and Maria Stark.

It took a lot of liquor to be ok with that, and it was painful to try to wrap his mind around what Hydra had done to turn Bucky Barnes into a brainless dog. That didn’t stop him from looking over all that was involved. From the equipment and process to the arm (he could have done so much better), Tony went over everything.

He waited a week for Steve to come to the tower and ask for his help. The dick never showed up, never called. In a way, Tony could understand, he knew he had his quirks, but he was a genius. If he couldn't find the Winter Soldier then no one could.

So if Steve didn’t want to ask for help then he could pick his buddy up after Tony found him. If there was one thing that Tony could be, it was petty.

It took him two days to get a hit after he started searching. It seemed their target was trying to find himself at the Smithsonian.

So while Steve rushed down the coast, Tony studied his target’s behavior. He watched as the James sightings steadily crept up the coastline until he showed his face in Brooklyn.

Life had a way of surprising Tony. So one morning when he stumbled down to get coffee and ask for the JOLT (James Observational Location Tracker) report, he wasn’t prepared for Jarvis’ response.

“It would seem, Sir, that Sergeant Barnes was here last night.” 

Tony spat his coffee everywhere. His heart couldn’t take shit like this. “You mean here as in he was in the Tower?!”

Tony set the coffee down and brought up the interface. He noted that nothing seemed to even pick up that there had been an intruder.

“No, Sir, he was not in the tower, rather he was on top of it.”

Tony's fingers flew as he pulled up more data. He realized with frustration that there was only one working camera on the roof. “J, please make a note to get the roof cameras fixed.” 

The footage showed the other three cameras getting destroyed before Barnes walked up to the door, dressed in dark, baggy clothes. He stood still for a moment before stooping down. Barnes was only there briefly before he backed away and disappeared off of the screen.

“Any clue to how he got up here?” Tony asked, because how the hell did a 240 pound assassin get on top of his building without his system noticing? 

“None, Sir, but it seems he left something...”

“He did what?!” Tony pulled up the current footage of the roof. There in front of the door was a very small potted flower that was purple in color. 

“Scan that shit!” God, he doesn’t know if Hydra had put a hit out for him. The plant could be a bomb. What a way to go that would be: blown up by a plant. 

“Analysis complete.” Jarvis responded off. “it seems to be a normal potted plant.” 

Tony read over the report. “You’ve gotta be shitting me.” Now he was curious. “Why a plant?” Tony leaned back to stare at it more. 

“It would seem, Sir, that it is a purple Hyacinth.” 

Tony rolled his eyes and went to pick up his coffee, “And what does that mean, J?”

“I’m sorry.” 

Tony almost dropped his mug. “Come again?”

Tony can hear Jarvis sigh. “It means ‘I am sorry’ in the language of flowers.”

Tony jumped up and ran up the stairs, only slowing when he reached the door to the roof. There he managed a little bit of sense and called for an armored gauntlet. Once it attached and was ready to go Tony eased the door open and aimed his gauntlet at the plant. 

He must have looked awfully silly aiming at a plant, but he couldn’t take any chances. His glasses scan everything as clear. 

He stepped closer in order to get a better look at the potted plant. At its top was a card. 

Tony wanted to laugh at the thought of the former Winter Soldier walking into a flower shop and asking for a plant.

He carefully reached out and grabbed the card. ‘Tony’ was written across it in a messy scrawl. He flipped it over and read the short message before he sunk down to the ground.

Tony stayed there for a while before he went back inside.

He left the plant and took the note.

The message ‘Sorry I killed your mom' was burned into his brain.

….

There was another plant the next day. 

‘Sorry I killed your dad'

Tony left that one on the roof too.

……

The next day there was one for Steve. 

‘Sorry I shot you.’  
…..

A week later Tony decided he had to do something. It had gotten to the point that he couldn’t get to the roof without stepping over plants.

So he built a platform off to the side and arranged the plants on top of it.

He also put new cameras up, before setting out a potted plant of his own and a couple sets of clothes.

Jarvis assured him that the plant meant ‘I forgive you’.  
….

The next morning found all the plants together, including Tony’s, as well as a small pile of crushed camera parts.

Again, the footage showed each camera getting destroyed and Barnes neatly placing the parts in a pile. Then a watering can appeared from out of frame, slowly pushed into sight of the camera. 

“So he isn’t alone.” Tony mused to himself as he watched Barnes water the flowers. He looked through the clothes before taking them and leaving.

Tony was going to need help.  
…….

He went to Sam because the guy was trained for this kind of shit.

They both agreed that they would not tell Steve just yet. They needed to see what Barnes would do next.

So Tony replaced the cameras and Sam placed out a pot of Cattails with a note: ‘Thanks for the flowers, I sort of forgive you for breaking my wings’.

The next day Sam’s pot was on the far end of the platform, and a trash can had appeared by the platform’s end. It was partially full of dead leaves and more ruined camera parts. A potted Hydrangea was on the doorstep. It was a hybrid breed with red and gold petals.

Scans of the trash can revealed nothing. It had been completely wiped down but was brand new. The footage was also interesting. 

Barnes showed up, crushed the camera and the two well-placed bugs, read Sam’s note, and smirked. (He seemed to have two facial expressions: resting bitch face and cocky boy.) He placed all the flowers where he wanted them and then, of course, watered all of them. 

“He does this every night?”Sam asked. 

Tony nodded. 

“That’s good, he’s establishing a pattern which means he’s trying to get better.”

They watched as the trash can slowly appeared from out of frame. Barnes's mouth moved and the can stopped. He gave the camera a look before hurrying with the rest of his chores and leaving.

Tony frowned. 

“Go back, something must have happened,” Sam said.

Tony told Jarvis to rewind the footage. They needed to watch it three more times before he saw it. “Pause here,” Tony said.

Jarvis did so. 

“Ok grid it out.” 

A grid appeared over the paused footage. 

“Now blow up grids 45 and 46.”

Once that was done the screen was mostly taken up by the trash can. 

“Ok now enhance and play second by second.” 

The trash can ever so slowly crept more and more onto the screen. Then it started to tip and a hand grabbed the rim and disappeared just as fast as it appeared. If the footage had been playing at normal speed it would have been a blur. Tony took it back to the fullest shot of the hand.

“So there’s something he doesn’t want us to see here,” Sam said. 

It was a small hand with long fingers, maybe a teenager? But only the fingers were visible, the rest was covered in some type of red and blue fabric with a black pattern over it.

“Is that…” Sam started off “a spider web design?”

A smile crept onto Tony's face. “Well, that would explain how he got up here. But how did Barnes know who Spiderman is and what does he have on him to get him to carry him around?”

That seemed to be the million-dollar question. One that Tony was going to find out the answer to.

……

After the trash can incident, Barnes avoided the roof for a while. He came at random times during the day at peak times of foot traffic to drop off the pots. A flash of metal and Barnes would be gone.

Sam told Tony to let him do it. Barnes would come back when he was comfortable again. It ended up being a week later before he was back on the roof, seemingly upset with the state of the plants.

He had the spider kid (because if anyone watched the web footage they would clearly see that the hero was nowhere near a man) hand him paper and a pen. The kid still stayed off-camera. Then he wrote a note and placed it under a pot.

The note read: ‘Water the damn plants. And leave the kid alone.’

As if, Tony thought.  
…..

Tracking the kid was hard. He moved fast and stayed away from cameras as much as he could. But it seemed that New York had gained another vigilante. 

Someone was running around taking care of crime lords and henchmen, and the kid was bound to mess up if Barnes wasn’t always around. Tony guessed that they both would go fight crime separately, and then meet up and go to the tower to calm down.

Tony kept Barnes busy by gradually building more shelves and putting in trees.

Sam had told him to slowly add things. Barnes was trying to come back to himself, and this whole gardening thing seemed to be his way of finding peace.

Tony could live with a garden on his roof. As Pepper pointed out, it was good for the environment. 

A lot of buildings were starting community gardens, so Tony wasn’t surprised when the list appeared: fruit trees, berry bushes, and fruit and vegetable seeds. Tony could see where this was going. He consulted the internet before he figured out how to transform the whole rooftop and irrigate it too.

Tony left up to Barnes to care for and plant it all. 

……

It took three weeks before the kid messed up. 

He went down too many streets with cameras and Tony was able to compile an estimate of where he lived. After that it was simple to sort out the teenagers in that area (23), who were boys (11), with slim builds(4) and who matched Spiderman’s height (1).

Tony stared at the ID picture of a scrawny teenager. According to the data, he was no more than fifteen.

“Hello Mr. Parker,” Tony said before instructing Jarvis to dig, There was something here he was missing, something big.

In the meantime, Tony was going to have to figure out how to get past the Soldier.

And he has another problem. Sam bought Natasha from the compound to visit the tower. She was only there for two minutes before she was in Tony’s face with a note. One that had been written in Russian. Shit.

“I can explain,” he started. For his part, Sam made a run for it. Traitor.

But Tony doesn’t get a chance to explain. Natasha gave him a glare before turning on her heels and leaving.

It made him nervous for the rest of the day. She arrived back at the tower at sunset and slammed some flowers down on his workspace. (Camomile, Sir, flower of Russia.)

“You give this to him,” Natasha said. Then, as she went out the door, “Oh, and I’m going to send Rogers a text. It will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. You best prepare yourself.” 

Tony sagged into his seat. 

“Call Sam, we need to do damage control.” Jarvis got right on it. 

Damn, he had wanted to go to the Parker’s tomorrow.

……

After getting the flower and note from Natasha, Barnes seemed to clean up the garden even more. As if it wasn’t already in strict order.

As usual, the kid stayed out of the camera’s view, but Tony can tell they talk even with the voice bugs gone. Barnes would nod his head every now and then and talk to someone just off screen.

They left at one as always, Barnes fretting over last-minute details. 

In the morning between 10:15 and 10:16 another flower appeared. (‘A carnation; pink means ‘I will never forget you’. I believe it is intended for Captain Rogers.’ Yeah no shit J) Like the first few, it was sitting in front of the door.

Tony sat at his workbench, trying to wait until the fallout hit. 

It happened at 4 p.m. The hangar door on the upper level opened and out first came Steve. He was followed by Sam, Natasha (that snitch) and Clint go right to the roof, and, surprise, Bruce is here too. He seemed split on where to go until Natasha grabbed his hand and led him to the roof as well, swinging a picnic basket of all things.

Great, they got to go have a picnic and Tony gets to calm down Steve. Just great. Story of his life right there.

Sam must have talked to Steve a lot, but that didn’t stop the Captain from kicking open the lab doors. He stood over the desk, Sam right behind him. Steve took a deep breath, despite his determined face, he looked sad.

“Why is Bucky coming here?”

Tony thought about his answer before he spoke. 

“He bought me flowers. First for my mom, and then another for my old man.” 

Steve flinched. So he knows, at least Tony wouldn’t have to tell him. Briefly, Tony wondered how long Steve had known.

“Cheer up, Cap. He brought you some too. One of which is upstairs, means something along the lines of ‘Sorry I shot you in the stomach’. Not sure if that was supposed to be kinky or not.” 

Steve blanched which made Tony cackle inside.

“Anyway, he left this one this morning.” Tony pushed the carnations forward. 

Steve approached slowly. “Pink flowers?” he asked. 

“Yes, Captain Rogers, in the language of flowers it means ‘I will never forget you’.” Jarvis supplied.

Steve’s blush spread. He looked like an excited puppy. “You said there were more upstairs?”

Tony smiled, “Yeah, follow me. He spent hours making it perfect for you.”

Tony got out of his chair and led them to the roof. 

“Getting what ready?” Steve asked, face contorted up in confusion.

Tony didn’t answer, but he could hear Sam telling Steve it wasn’t anything bad.

Tony opened the door and led them all out onto the sunny roof. 

“Bucky did all this?” Steve asked breathlessly. 

Taking in everything, it really was a thing of beauty, the Avenger’s own personal park. From the looks on the others' faces, they needed this.

“Of course, He didn’t do all of it, but he did plant and maintain everything. He’s even got some food growing over there.” Tony pointed to the shaded area to the right of the door.

Which also happened to be where Natasha, Clint, and Bruce had spread out their picnic under a tree. They looked at peace, enjoying the sun and chatting with each other.

Maybe there was something to this rooftop garden thing.

“So when does he show up? I can’t wait to talk to him.” Steve was still staring off into the distance. He missed the look that Tony and Sam shared. 

“He doesn’t talk. Well unless it’s by plants and occasionally by notes. If he catches wind that someone is getting too close he disappears for a while.” Tony said. 

Steve made a face.

“You got to give him time man,” Sam said. 

Steve’s shoulders slumped a little. “But how can I let him be when I don’t even know if he’s ok. What if he’s living on the street. What if he doesn’t have anything to eat?” 

Tony rolled his eyes at the thought. The Winter Soldier not knowing where to go to get supplies and money. HA! Hell, he probably had access to several Hydra safe houses and bank accounts.

“Your buddy is fine, in fact he’s with Spiderman,” Tony said offhandedly.

Steve turned. “Spiderman?” 

Tony nodded, waving his hand toward the side of the building. “Yeah, how do you think he gets up here?”

That gave Steve pause.

“So who is Spiderman?” Steve asked. 

“Well, he’s actually a teenager. A kid really, but to answer your question, he would be Peter Parker.”

Steve’s frowns deepened. “Bucky lives with a kid?” 

“Yes, and no. Bucky and Peter live with Peter’s aunt, May.”

Steve seemed to lose it. “Who the hell is May?”

Tony decided he should stop messing with the man. 

“May Parker happens to be the last surviving member of the Barnes line.” It had taken a bit of research to learn that, and Tony had been proud that he was able to find that out. “She’s Barnes’ great-niece.”

Steve looked sad. “I didn’t think to look.” 

Sam patted his shoulder. “You’ve been a busy man.”

Steve shook his head, “Still not really an excuse, but at least they’re ok. Do they need anything?”

Of course, Steve's mind would go from Bucky being on the streets to the family one missed payment away from said streets. 

“They’re doing better now. They lost their uncle, but May is a very resourceful woman.”

Steve thought before asking: “So what can I do?” 

Sam stepped forward, “Give him his space, and let him come to us. If you want to say something, then go get some flowers and wait him out.”

The words barely sink in before Steve got that look. “Ok.” And then he spun on his heel and was out the door.

Steve returned just before sunset. He had some gardening tools and of course a plant. It was an azalea: 'Take care of yourself for me. '

He laid them neatly out on the doorstep.

Tony made a note to get a toolshed up here. He would leave filling it to Steve. It would give him something to do.

…..

But it seemed the super-soldier was bound to surprise him. Steve was up first thing the next day making a freakin’ shed. 

Go figure.  
……..

Tony had had enough. It was getting ridiculous now. 

Steve was driving himself crazy and in turn driving everyone else crazy, and Tony was at the top of that list.

It had been two months of Steve staying over at the tower waiting for Bucky to finally come inside. Two months of moving from one project to the next. After the shed came the greenhouse, because winter was coming and if the frost didn’t kill the plants the snow would. Then after the greenhouse was the koi pond. A freakin pond on top of his tower! Steve didn’t even ask, the nerve!

Steve's current project was putting in a stone path (we don’t need to be walking all over the plants) and a sink (no sense in going inside to clean up).

Tony was fine with all that, a busy Steve is a good Steve.

No, what had Tony walking through the hallways of an apartment building in Queens was the foolish thing Steve had done two weeks prior.

The video footage had shown Bucky arriving as normal to the tower. All bundled up in jackets and things due to the snow. He’d stopped by the door to see if there was anything there, then froze like a deer in headlights, and started shaking, badly. Tony knew the signs when he saw them, this was a panic attack. It was so bad that the boy actually had to come on screen and get Barnes. They were leaving just as the door flew open and revealed Steve.

The video showed Steve waiting up near the stairwell and trying to talk to Bucky through the door. Tony hadn’t realized how bad it had been until Bucky didn’t leave anything at the door. 

A week later there had been no sign of Bucky. Neither at the tower nor fighting crime in the city. Tony’s godmother, Aunty Peggy was sending him a message about a very upset James Barnes coming to see her along with his nephew was the only hint. Then afterward he dropped off a plant at the tower: a cyclamen, meaning goodbye. That tore Steve up even more.

Steve was moping. Whether he was in the greenhouse, the common room, or the damn kitchen he was in the way wherever he went.

It all came to a head when they were fighting some creature in the city. There was a group of civilians being escorted out of harm’s way, and one of them was knocked over causing his prosthetic arm to fall off. This sent Steve into some place inside his head and he took a hit from the creature. It knocked him into one side of a building and out the other. 

Steve was strong, but it was apparent after the hospital exam that he hadn’t been taking care of himself. Aside from the bruises, broken bones, and the concussion, Steve was dehydrated, starved, and sleep deprived.

It took a lot of meds to knock Steve out and keep him out while Bruce worked to get him back up to health.

Tony was unsure of his next move as he stood outside the medical level. Natasha appeared next to him and shoved a folder into his chest. 

“You’re going to need this to prove to James that this idiot,” Natasha pointed to the door, “Still needs him around.” Then she turned and walked away, leaving Tony standing at the door. 

That was how Tony Stark found himself in Queens knocking on the Parker's door with a briefcase not knowing what kind of reception he would be in for. He’d been prepared for a hyper teenager or maybe a glaring ex-assassin.

What he got was May Parker.

She opened the door slowly, evidence showing that she had just gotten home from work, still wearing scrubs and looking dead to the world. She barely looked at Tony before she grunted out: “What do you want?”

Tony smiled before replying, “Well, I’ve got to say I’ve never been greeted like that before.”

May’s reaction was on another level. She actually screamed at him, honest to god screamed. Then she slammed the door in his face, leaving Tony standing in the hallway, stunned. He was starting to think this whole plan was a very bad idea. Maybe he should go home, rethink the plan and come back another time.

He was making a hasty retreat to the stairwell when a door behind him flew open with a bang. There was a sound of running feet and before Tony could turn around, May was in front of him, guiding him back.

She stumbled through apologies and explanations. Tony also noted that she’d done her best to neaten herself up. Mays’ hair was now pulled back in a neat ponytail, and she now wore a housecoat over her scrubs.

She looked good. He had expected it, she was good looking in her ID picture. She worked hard to care for her nephew and now her “brother” had come to help them out. Only, if you dug deep enough, as Tony had, you would find out that her real brother died at eighteen. 

In a blink of an eye, Tony found himself seated with a glass of lemonade in hand, a box of cookies next to him, and not very sure how he’d ended up on the couch.

“It’s a pleasure and an honor to have you in my home.” She said as she continued to move around, anxiously tidying the room.

The living room was actually fairly clean, only a few things out of place. Tony took it in as fast as he could. The desk in the corner had advanced chemistry and psychology books piled messily on one side. On the other side sci-fi and gardening books were stacked neatly. Tony could also see at least two mostly hidden guns from here. He bet there would be one under both the table and couch if he looked. Also, Tony cocked his head to the side, his glasses picked up footprints on the roof.

He turned back to May when her chattering stopped.

“Thank you for allowing me in. Even if I must say that I’ve never had someone slam the door in my face without spending the night on the other side of it first. That was different.”

May’s face turned bright red, and she coughed into her hand. “Yes sorry about that. You caught me off guard. Which reminds me why you are here?”

Good, they could finally get down to business. 

“I’ve come to speak with your nephew,” Tony said as he placed his briefcase on the table. 

“Peter?” There was a hint of worry in her voice. The sound of someone who was used to getting bad news way too often. “What has he done?” 

Tony made a show of finding the right document.

“What he’s done is impress my company scouts. So much so that they nominated him to receive a grant for future education.”

He set the documents down in front of her. They barely had time to touch the desk before she snatched them up.

May’s eyes flew over the pages before she pinned Tony with a look. “This is for real for real.”

He nodded, expecting her to scream again but she didn’t. She just set the papers down before jumping up and hugging him. He couldn’t even dodge her. What was up with this woman?

“You really don’t know what this means for this family. We’ve had a lot of downs in the past and things are finally looking up, so thank you. Thank you so much.”

She pulled away, grabbing tissues off of the table, and drying her eyes. 

“Unfortunately, Peter is still at school in one of his after school programs. Then he and my brother usually go out for some bonding time.”

It was Wednesday wasn’t it? Meaning Peter was probably at science club or chess club. If he and Bucky were following a schedule that meant--a quick glance to the clock--they would be back in about an hour.

“That’s fine. I know he’s a very busy young man.” Tony said getting to his feet. “I just wanted to deliver the news personally. Oh, almost forgot.”

He handed her a thin box that had taken up most of the room in the suitcase and an envelope. “His official welcome box and a letter from yours truly.” 

May looked as if she was going to start with the waterworks once more. Tony would rather get shot at or take on Loki again than deal with crying people so he began to make his retreat.

“So you give that to him and we, or rather the company, will be in contact.” Tony said moving towards the door. May got the hint and scrambled to her feet, cutting him off at the door, and giving him another hug. 

What was up with the hugging, Tony wondered. 

“I know you’re a busy man but, again, thank you so much. Peter needs nice things like this after so many bad things.”

And then he was back on the other side of the door. He all but ran back to the car. 

Everything was in the kid and Barnes’ court now. He would have to wait and see how it played out.  
……

Tony didn’t have to wait long. 

Jarvis woke him at one in the morning because the spider kid was at the door. A quick check of the security feeds shows that, yes, the kid was in fact standing at the roof door. What bothered Tony was that Peter was wearing that god awful homemade suit.

“Jarvis, let him know I’m coming up.” Since Tony fell asleep in the lab he wouldn’t have to worry about clothes. It was just a matter of getting one of the small prototypes he had been working on ready. It had been Harley’s idea: “You can’t always wait for the suit to blast the shit out of bad guys.” When did that kid get so smart? And the mouth on him.

Tony mentally prepared himself at the door. He wouldn’t need Harley’s idea for the kid but who knew what kind of state James, who would be nearby, is in.

He opened the door slowly, giving the kid enough time to step back. 

The boy pulled off his hood, brown eyes sparkling. 

“Hello, Mr. Stark. It was very nice of you to do what you did,” The kid’s voice was squeaky and timid but he continued anyway. “I always wanted to meet you, Sir.” His eyes darted to the side.

“Here!” Peter said, thrusting out a paper bag. 

Tony took it, opened it and looked inside.

Tony looked back up. “I think you misunderstand. That’s for you.” Tony said closing the bag and holding it out. 

Peter stepped back like it was a snake. “As much as I appreciate it, Sir, I can’t take that.”

Well, that was new. “It’s ok kid, I made it just for you.”

Peter put more space between them. “And I very much appreciate it, but I don’t know you and you don’t know me. Why are you giving that to me?” 

Tony frowned, “Because I’m nice like that kid.”

Peter shook his head. “Things like that come with price tags. And I don’t want to end up doing things I don’t want to.”

Tony's brows met. “What are you talking about?” Harley had said this was a sure-fire way to win over the kid, what had happened?

“I’m not that kind of boy, Sir. I know they make fun of me in school and say that I look like one but I’m not.” 

Tony cocked his head, hopefully the kid would start making sense soon.

The kid sighed. “I’m not a sugar baby, Sir. I was raised to be able to depend on myself.”

It was Tony's turn to step back. 

“Sugar baby!!” Tony sputtered. “No, just no. You’re a cute kid, but not that cute. Not interested. And you’re a minor, a baby really. I mean if you were older, maybe, but no, let’s stop there. I didn’t give you the suit to get into your onesie.”

Peter looked down at his clothes. “Onesie?! Then why do you give it to me?” He asked with big eyes.

“I know what it’s like to try and be a superhero and not have any support or equipment. I was just trying to let you know that you have help. We can train you. That sort of thing, you know?”

Peter still looked cautious, “Thank you. Mr. Stark but I’m good, I already have a teacher.” 

Tony frowned, not used to this type of rejection.

“Who would that be a kid?”

“Me.” Spoke a deep voice.

Barnes oozed out of the shadows, armed to the teeth.

“Really? You brought guns after everything I’ve done for you? I mean, I even let you use my roof as your garden. That’s really cold, man.”

Barnes walked right up to Peter and stood in front of him like a damn shield.

Tony bet that Barnes could smell fear, judging by the way he grinned at him. 

“I told you one very important thing. One thing not to do, Stark. So take this as your last warning: leave the kid alone.” He said each of the words slowly and deeply, making sure Tony understood.

Barnes turned to go. 

“Well since you’re here, I do have something for you too.” Tony held steady as Barnes turned back around. 

He glared at Tony before looking down to the folder in Tony’s outstretched hand. They had a mini showdown before Barnes grabbed the folder and stuffed it down the front of his jacket. 

“Come on kid, ” Barnes said before heading to the edge of the roof. The kid gave Tony a small smile before following. Barnes started to run as he got closer to the edge. The kid was right at his heels as they both jumped over the edge.

Tony couldn’t help himself from running over to see.

Peter let out two lines of web keeping one. Barnes grabbed the other with his right hand and then they swung through the air. It really was something.

……

Tony wasn’t sure how long of a waiting game he would have to play before Barnes would make his next move.

The next morning Tony checked the reports on the team. Everyone was well of course, and it looked like Spiderman was back on patrol duty. Shockingly, even Steve had woken up from his coma.

So, after breakfast (coffee served by Dummy) and getting fussed at by Jarvis, Tony headed down to medical. Having spent a lot of time here, it was not his most favorite place in the tower, but Tony wasn’t going to let that stop him from visiting his team mate.

The room was bright, curtains opened wide, letting in the sun. Steve was up eating what looked like tray number three of breakfast. The other two were stacked on the bedside table.

Tony noted the potted Daffodil also sitting there on the table. Jarvis indicated on his glasses that it meant new beginnings. It seemed like Barnes had been here, which would explain the eating. It seemed Steve had gotten his appetite back. 

When Steve saw Tony he handed him a tray, and they ate in silence. When they were both done, Steve buzzed for a nurse. She collected the trays, wrote notes on the chart, and gave Steve some pills. Once she was gone, Steve seemed to relax.

“I had a dream last night that Bucky came to see me. He yelled at me for not taking care of myself, for jumping out of planes, and for not picking my battles well. Then he slammed a pot down on the table, and said that he would be watching my six since I was too stupid to quit. Then he vanished. I’m not sure what to make of it.” 

Tony could tell by the way Steve stared at the plant that he wasn’t sure if the plant was there or not.

“I think it’s safe to say that we may have a new member. I’m not entirely sure, as he did threaten me last night. But honestly, I get threats every day so what else is new.” Tony said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Steve gave a small smile. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

Tony grinned, it would definitely make things interesting.

“So tell me, how is our team doing?” Steve asked 

Barnes was a topic that Tony was unsure of, but team dynamics, that he could do.

Tony spent the rest of his visit going over what had happened during Steve’s coma. They discussed new training ideas and new exercises to keep everyone on their toes. They would have talked more, but Bruce kicked Tony out saying they could talk about parenting techniques later. Steve needed to get his rest.

With that all settled, Tony went back to the lab for the rest of the night working on armor and updates to the other’s equipment. At least until Nat dragged him out of the lab for a celebratory dinner and team movie night watching the Lion King. 

Even Steve was wheeled down from medical. He insisted that he was well enough to walk, but Bruce was having none of that. All in all, it was a good night, something they had sorely needed.

Tony could only hope that things stayed this good.  
……..

Tony wasn’t sure how well having Barnes on the team would be. But it turned out good. 

Barnes was good at having their backs even when they didn’t know he was there. He was always in the right spot to take the shot. Which had the side effect of making Steve more reckless. Despite this, they got the job done. 

The only major problem they had was the fight for who was the best marksman. Clint and Barnes went round for round, always trying to one-up each other. 

As Steve was the leader that problem fell squarely on his shoulders. Tony and Sam took bets as to who Steve would fuss at more (Bucky was winning but not by much).

The addition of Barnes to the team came with the spider kid. Tony would admit that the kid wasn’t that bad. It was like having a super soldier and air patrol all in one. 

Once the two joined in more fights, they began to get comfortable around the rest of the team.

That didn’t mean that it happened quickly. It started out with Peter doing his homework in plain view of the cameras while Barnes cared for the plants. This led to Steve building a table just because Sam brought it up. 

Then towards spring, the pair started showing up during the day.

At first, Barnes would only allow people to get as close as the door. Which caused Tony to make a screen door just so Steve could sit happily and stare. The screen door had actually been Pepper's idea. 

“It will make them both happy, Tony. Steve will be able to see Bucky and Bucky will still feel like he’s keeping his distance.” She’d said.

It had been a brilliant idea. That was why she ran the company and got to boss him around. 

It was quite funny when both Pepper and Natasha walked around Steve and on to the rooftop during one of Bucky’s visits. They surprised everyone and ignored Steve’s harsh whispers to stay back.

Natasha sat down next to the kid and told him that they should spar so she could see what he needed to work on. Meanwhile, Pepper walked up to Barnes. 

“So you’re Sergeant Barnes? It is a pleasure to meet you, I love what you’ve done with this roof. It’s very good PR. Can you tell me what some of your plans are?” 

It was hilarious. Barnes was caught in a state between being polite and wanting to run. Steve, of course, was stuck at the door staring.

It was great.

In all, it went well. To the point where the team gradually leaked onto the roof to relax over the course of a few days. Even Tony made it out from time to time.

Clint made it his goal to teach Peter how to use a bow and arrow, Natasha always had a book, Bruce held yoga sessions, Steve drew everyone, and Peter took photos.

Pepper convinced Steve that they should pick the best drawings and put together a book to sell for charity. She suggested they call it ‘Avenger Reset’. 

Tony couldn’t help but think it was a good idea.  
……

Tony liked to think that things were going well, but out of the blue Barnes disappeared. Peter still came by, and, when asked, he said his uncle had some things to do and would be back later.

That sent Steve pouting, but at least this time Pepper had him working on the book.

It turned out that Barnes’ disappearance had something to do with blowing up some shit in Europe. How Barnes got over there Tony wasn’t sure. And he definitely didn’t want to know where Barnes had gotten the explosives to blow that place sky high.

What Tony did know was that it was important to find out why Barnes had done what he did. 

By the time the Avengers scrambled and made it over there, the base was destroyed, the data was wiped, and there was no sign of Barnes. It was a wasted trip. 

Two weeks after his disappearance, Barnes showed up at Stark tower with two other people.

The two people he had with them were two young teenagers. Twins who’d been newly broken out of Hydra’s clutches. They seemed to only talk to Barnes and, eventually, Natasha. At least if you wanted to call short one word answers talking. The only one who could get them to open up was Peter. Maybe it was a young person's thing. Who knew? 

All Tony knew was that Barnes seemed to be starting an orphanage or something with all the kids he had hanging around him.

The twins don’t talk to Tony. 

Tony brought it up one day while Steve was making lunch for Bucky and his wards. 

The girl straightened at Tony, eyes glowing red. “Why would I talk to a murderer, especially the one that killed our parents?”

Tony froze with his hand on its way to the coffee pot. He didn’t have to guess what killed their parents, lots of people had died because of Stark weapons. 

“I’m sorry about your parents,” Tony said, letting his hand rest on the counter.

“Like your sorry will bring them back.” Hissed the boy.

“That’s enough.” Bucky’s calm voice spoke out, and all eyes turned to him. 

“But he is a murderer James.” Said the boy.

“Yes and so am I and so is Natasha, will you stop talking to us too?” 

The twins looked upset. “But that’s different--” started the girl. 

Bucky held up his hand. “We’re all murderers in this room. Either because we were following orders, because we made something that killed, or because we let someone go who we shouldn't have. You two need to keep in mind that if I didn’t come for you, then you would have been no different than us. Stark forgave me for killing his parents. Maybe you should too.” 

Steve was smiling like an idiot as he placed a plate in front of Bucky. “Well said Buck.” He ruffled Bucky’s hair. 

Bucky gave him a small smile back. 

“My uncle,” Peter said, staring at the table. “He was killed by a guy I had a chance to stop. Before he was killed he said that with great power comes great responsibility. It’s easy to hate but it’s harder to forgive. Mr. Stark has been nothing but kind to us all.”

That warmed his heart. He sometimes didn’t know where he stood with the kid, especially since he gave the suit back, so he would take any progress that he could. 

“Thanks, kid.” Tony gave Peter a small smile before exiting the room with the coffee.

He was elbows deep working on a car engine when Jarvis interrupted him. “Sir, you have visitors.” 

He figured it was Steve wanting to talk about some team-related thing but that was not who he saw standing at the door.

"Well, They’re not at all who I expected to see. Let them in J, might as well see what they want.” Tony wiped off his hands as Bucky led the twins inside.

They looked sheepishly between the two adults.

“Go ahead,” Bucky said firmly.

The boy took a step towards Tony, “We’re sorry for what we said earlier. We thought it over, and we would like to start over. 

“My name is Pietro.” The kid held out his hand

Tony took it with a firm shake. “Tony Stark,”

The boy bounced back to Bucky’s side “I did it, James.” 

Bucky nodded, “That you did.”

They both turned to the girl. She dragged herself over. “I don’t think I trust you yet or that I fully forgive you.” She glared. 

“Understood.” Tony replied, holding out his hand. 

She looked at it before taking it. “Wanda, ” 

“Thank you, Wanda, it’s a pleasure.”

Tony watched as her cheeks turned pink. She squeaked before hurrying behind her brother and Bucky. She tugged on Bucky’s sleeve until he bent to her. They shared a word before she rushed to the door.

“We have something for you Stark. We weren’t sure what to do with it, but the twins thought it would be best to give it to you.” By the time Bucky had finished talking Wanda returned.

“Is that what I think it is?” Tony couldn’t help but be surprised. Loki’s staff was in her hands.

She held it out to him. “They used it to make us.” She said.

“Make you?” Tony asked. 

Wanda nodded before her hands glowed and made the staff float up and towards Tony. Then there was a flash of silver and the staff was snatched out of the air and in the hands of Pietro, standing in front of him.

“There were others but they didn’t make it.” The boy said as he put the staff in Tony’s hands. Once he was sure that Tony had it he sped back to the others. 

“We’ll leave it to you to handle, Tony.” Bucky said as he led the two teenagers out. “Come on guys, Steve’s waiting and it’s never good if he has to wait too long.” He said as he guided them out of the room. 

Tony watched them go. He guessed that the Mini-Avengers were now a thing, and that the Winter Soldier was now a loveable papa.

It was hard to wrap his mind around, but who knew, it might all work out. Having back up is important, no matter the size. Peter had already proved that. Maybe Tony would get Harley up here too. See if having people his age might help Harley out.

Tony made a note to talk to Steve about it. In the meantime, he went ahead and called Bruce up, and had Jarvis contact Thor. He needed to know about the staff. For all Tony knew, it hadn't been considered lost until now.

……….

After that, it went pretty well. Tony lost himself in the project of scanning and mapping the weapon and the stone. Wanda and Pietro made a point to talk to him and Peter would come down to the lab to work with him sometimes.

Which is what brought Tony out of the lab. Bruce had gone up for coffee hours ago and hadn’t returned, and the kid was late. Peter was never late.

The living room and common room were empty which was a surprise. There was usually someone here. In fact, Tony thought as he stepped into the kitchen, the whole tower was quiet.

“Jarvis where the hell is everyone? Is Whole Foods Market having another bulk sale? Do I need to send a moving van?” Tony still remembered the last time, all that food. Steve should have never been allowed to shop for food, but it did look good for the Avengers to drop off all of it to various shelters. Pepper had been pleased about that at least.

“No, sir, the sale isn’t till next week and I am afraid that Captain Rogers has already roped in both Samuel Wilson and Sergeant Barnes to help him.” 

God help the people in that store that day Tony thought. “Set a reminder to disappear prior to that day.” He wasn’t going to get caught in that hell.

“It has been noted, Sir,” Jarvis said. Tony could hear the amusement in his voice.

“So if they aren’t at the store, then where are they?” Tony was starting to worry. Did he miss an alert? He hadn’t before but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t happen. 

“Everyone seems to be on the roof, Sir.” 

Tony frowned as he drank his coffee. It was cold but he wasn’t going to complain. At least he didn’t have to wait on any to brew. If everyone was on the roof it must be a picnic day. Either that or Bucky was putting the kids to work.

He was about to brush it off when Peter came running into the kitchen. He didn’t even see Tony. The kid grabbed a box of oats and rice and was reaching for a can of corn when he saw Tony.

“Oh, God.” The kid said and the items went flying. Tony stopped the can from rolling away with his shoe. 

“So kid,” He said, picking up the can and tossing it in the air, “want to tell me what’s happening on the roof?”

A big grin broke out on the kid’s face. “That would be Ben and Marie.” The kid quickly grabbed the two containers.

“Who’s that now?” Tony asked, but instead of answering Peter grabbed his hand and dragged him to the stairs. “Just come see.”

That was how Tony Stark found out that a pair of Canadian geese were now living on top of his building. Why couldn’t things be simple?  
…….

Things became complicated after that. 

For one there was a war between all of them to see who could learn the most about geese, and to see who could get the geese to like them the most.

Tony was not allowed to use Jarvis but he was able to use Harley. The kid lived on a farm so of course he knew how to care for geese. So the team’s Short Mechanic pulled ahead with a sweet victory using cracked corn.

The Old Guys (Rogers and Barnes) led the competition with facts, and the Assassin managed to train the birds to not shit everywhere. However, Team Baby (Peter and the twins) won overall when the two geese fell in love with Peter.

Which meant that Tony won by default since none of the three had money to buy the geese a damn thing!

It didn’t matter in the end though, because the geese turned into a sort of team mascot. Everyone on the team found a way to care for them.

They may not help much in a fight, but coming home to Ben and Marie waddling up for treats made the day a little more bearable.

Things had started to calm down. Barnes had started some new rooftop projects, and the twins were starting training. Banner was tutoring the three teenagers and Harley via webcam. The spies were doing spy things, and Steve and Tony were knee-deep in plans to destroy Hydra.

They are all on the roof, even Tony, when Peter brought it up. “I think something is wrong with Marie. She won’t come to me.” Peter grumbled. 

“She wouldn’t come to me either,” Natasha said, thoughtfully, “and I had the cornbread with the kernels that she likes.”

That was concerning. 

Steve's head darted up. “Is she sick?”

Wanda’s voice cut in, as she turned the page in her book. “She’s sitting on two eggs. Trying to lay another as I speak so I suppose she won’t be up much for a while.”

Everyone went silent.

It was another point for team Baby, and then the penny dropped. 

For a group of heroes who saved the world all the time, they took the news like they were all about to become parents.

Which, Tony supposed, they all were. 

In the midst of the chaos, Tony pulled Harley away from Banner’s tablet to start finding out what they would need. Because God forbid something happened to these animals.  
……..

The eggs were going to hatch any day now, and tension was high in the tower. 

Barnes was snapping, Rogers was beating up every punching bag he could get his hands on, the spies would disappear and stuff would go missing, the babies, now complete with Harley, wouldn’t leave the bird’s side, and Tony was too hopped up on coffee to concentrate.

All in all, it was a hot mess.

So, when the alarms went off for a villain attack, the response time was not what it should have been. There was an argument as to who would stay at the tower and guard the roof since the attack was taking place so close to the tower. 

The kids ended up staying. 

The villain of the day had set off bombs and then released a small army of crazed robots. It wasn’t something the Avengers hadn’t seen before, but it was, as always, time consuming. What was different was that, after Steve shut the villain’s speech down with his shield, the villain disappeared.

It made the Avengers worry.

It was never this easy, but with no one to fight they started cleaning up. Tony and Steve went over things with the police, and James was nearby helping clean up a storefront stopped when his phone rang. He answered it and his whole posture changed. 

It grabbed Steve’s attention. He stopped mid-sentence. “Bucky, you ok?”

Bucky shook his head. “The tower has been attacked,” he said as he jammed his phone back into one of his many pockets. Without another word, he was gone, racing towards the tower.

“Find out if it is true.” Steve said, picking up the shield and running after James.

Tony immediately took his own phone out. Jarvis was reporting no abnormalities, but after deeper digging, they found out that someone had hacked into the tower’s systems. The tower was not only down, but cut off neatly and cleverly. 

“Avengers, we have a situation,” Tony said, alerting the others. They moved out as Jarvis tried to contact anybody in the tower with no success. The only thing that was known was that the tower was put into lockdown by an outside force and the roof sensors read multiple explosions. 

The babies, the teenagers aren’t answering, and that worried Tony the most. He wasn’t sure what to expect, it certainly wasn’t what was actually there.

Ironman landed on the roof with a loud clunk and headed over to the others. Steve was there along with James. The roof was a war zone. Dirt and smoke were everywhere, there were scorch marks scattered across what was left of the roof. There are charred remains of trees and plants and other non-recognizable things that were strewn everywhere and still smoking from the heat.

Peter was kneeling in front of a charred mass and James had his hand on the teen’s shoulders. Peter was crying and Tony wasn’t sure why. Steve was trying to calm a glowing Wanda. Her eyes held a lost look. 

“I killed him.” she said over and over.

Natasha, once she arrived, pulled Wanda close and started mumbling in Russian to her. The red glow started to gradually disappear.

The others started to survey the damage. The garden was lost, they would have to rebuild it completely. The shed had collapsed in on itself, but scans showed that there was life inside. Clint helped Tony lift the boards until they found both Harley and Pietro. 

They both had heavy injuries and were protecting a box. Scans showed that they would be ok. 

Bruce and Clint retrieved them and took them to medical. 

While they were being carried away, Tony scanned and opened the box. Inside, emitting soft pluses of heat, was Harley’s Ironman glove. He had been very proud of it. 

Why was it in the box and why was it on?

Tony moved the glove to the side and caught sight of a cream colored oval shape. The eggs were in the box. He set the box back down

Looking over the rooftop, Tony wondered where had the blasted geese gone? 

He quickly went to Peter, slowing down only after James glared at him and drew one of the many guns he kept on his person. Tony stepped out of the suit, and made sure to hold up his hands. 

“Peter,” Tony said softly, “where are the geese?” 

Peter burst into a fresh wave of tears. 

Tony tried again. “Where is Ben, Peter?” 

Peter looked Tony in the face and looked devastated before pointing to the burnt remains in front of him.

“Shit” Tony heard Steve say. 

“I found Marie. Or at least what’s left of her.” Said Sam from the far side of the roof. 

Peter let out a wail and James was there lifting him up and carrying him into the building. Feathers fell from Peter’s hands as James moved. Natasha picked up Wanda and followed. 

Steve bent next to Tony. “We lost all of them?” he asked, holding a feather. He didn’t sound strong, but Tony couldn’t blame him, they all loved the geese. 

“No. The eggs are in a box by the shed. Harley rigged it with heat. I don’t know if it'll be enough.” 

Steve headed to the box and picked it up as gently as he could. “We need a win, Tony. Especially the kids. Come help me keep them alive.”

Tony frowned. “We’re raising geese now Cap?” 

Steve gave Tony his patented Brooklyn trouble smirk. “You’re the genius, what else would we do?” He said before turning and heading inside. Tony followed, ranting about stupid supersoldiers and bad plans.

…..

They took the box down to the lab. There Steve removed each egg from the box carefully so that Tony could scan them each by hand. Thankfully, all the eggs were in perfect condition, and if the scans were anything to go by they should be hatching in a matter of days.

Since the roof was in no shape for goslings Tony outfitted a room on one of the lower levels as a nursery. He was just going to order some fake grass and a kiddy pool but Steve insisted that he could handle the task. 

There had been no change in Harley or Pietro’s condition, both were still unconscious after protecting the eggs, and Peter and Wanda were going through some kind of emotional breakdown after their terrible experiences. Since the tower was still down they had no way of knowing what happened on the roof until the kids woke up. The good news was that aside from being knocked out, Harley and Pietro were fine.

Pepper showed up in a whirlwind of heels and neatly pressed white suit. She immediately took over managing the roof, and had a crew arriving within the hour to get started on the clean up and repairs.

Tony left her to it. He focuses on the eggs. Steve had set the room up and had gone overboard with buying crickets and grasshoppers. (Three bags each, how much did he think they would eat!?) So Tony got to work scheduling who would have what shift with the eggs. Because the goslings shouldn’t be born alone. 

Even with the rotation, Tony didn’t want to leave the heater unattended. He had already replaced Harley’s creation with one of his own which he trusted more. He also wanted to make sure that the effect the beam had on the goslings was monitored. With both the baby geniuses recovering in medical and Banner on kid watch, it just left Tony. Which meant on day three something had to give.

He was on shift with Steve when Steve stepped out to go get them coffee. Tony had barely even heard any of what the other man had said, just that Tony looked like shit. At that point Tony really only left the room to pee, take a sink bath, and change his clothes. He was so tired he was fading in and out of consciousness. He only woke when the door shut softly, and frowned at the flash of silver.

“Is Peter feeling better yet?” Tony asked.

James shook his head and stepped into the room. “No but he has calmed down. All he wanted me to do was check on the babies. May is sitting with him now.” 

Tony pointed towards the fake nest, which Steve had found at an art store, that was in front of where Tony was sitting on the ground.

Tony let his eyelids droop as James moved toward it, the Soldier would wake him if anything happened. He could barely make out the sound of James moving around followed by the sound of the boots moving towards him.

“Tony, where are the eggs?” Tony sighed a smart retort on his tongue along the lines of don’t you know how to look into a nest, but it died on his lips at the sight of the empty nest in James’ hands.

Tony opened his mouth to speak when he was beaten to it by a much younger voice. 

“What happened to the eggs?!” 

They both turned to see Peter standing in the doorway. He looked to be on the edge of another breakdown. 

“Peter! Count to Ten!” James snapped. Peter's jaw clicked shut before he shuddered out a breath.

James turned his focus back to Tony now that he knew Peter would be okay. He glared down at Tony like this was all his fault. There was a slight shift in his features as he raised his metal hand and pointed. 

“What is that?” He pointed to Tony’s crotch. 

Please, Tony prayed as he looked down, don’t let his fly be open. Especially not in front of the kid.

However, Barnes wasn’t pointing exactly at his crotch. He was pointing at one of the many rips in Tony’s jeans. In particular, one on his thigh where a fuzzy, gray fluff ball was sticking out. The fluff ball stared up at Tony with little inky black eyes and chirped at him.

Peter was now standing beside James and grinning wildly. “They hatched!!!!” He exclaimed.

James’ arm whirred and Tony’s pants shifted. Tony watched in horror as more tiny little heads popped out of the rips in his jeans. He was infested!

“Move your arm again, uncle Bucky,” Peter said, and James grumpily obeyed. 

The goslings all tumbled out of Tony’s pants, something that Tony never thought he would see, and surrounded the two, chirping in time with the whirring of Barnes’ arm. Each one was doing some kind of little dance to get attention. While Peter lowered himself into the fuzzy mass, Tony and James shared a look. 

He had a bad feeling about it all.

His notion was proven correct the following morning when he woke to all six of the goslings nestled around his hand which had fallen over the side of the couch. The real question was how did they manage to get into his lab. 

…….

After they hatched it was simple. The goslings tolerated everyone on the tower pretty well, but it was plain as day that Peter was their sun. They followed him wherever they could. They had even been known to wait at the bathroom door for him. 

Bucky was like the grandparent that spoiled them. They loved his metal hand and were always more vocal when he was around. On the outside, he looked like he hated their attention but Tony could tell that he loved it. He grinned just a little when they ran at him, and Tony doesn’t mention that he has seen Bucky actively search them out. 

Steve was upset when they had a meeting and the little ones didn’t seek him out. Harley explained that they imprint on the first creature they see, so they think of Peter as their dad.

As soon as it was said Tony could see the understanding on everyone’s faces. Because the goslings were currently under his chair, asleep. He glared, daring them to say anything.

“So what does that make Tony?” Clint asked with a smirk. 

Wanda replied just as fast. “Their Mom of course.”

The uproar caused the babies to wake up which had them running underfoot. 

“Shit!” Tony said. The babies chirped loudly. 

“Language, Mama, little ears are listening,” Steve said with a smile that Tony knew meant the teasing wasn’t over yet.  
…..

The babies grew quickly. Tony was told that it was normal. 

Each one has its own personality, but since they all looked the same, Tony designed colored collars of nanotechnology they would grow as they did. This made it easier if he shouted: “Hey you! Come here.” In the lab, he got one robot and six birds.

After that, with Harley and Banner’s help the goslings were all scanned. Which wasn’t easy. Bruce suggested knocking them out, but both Peter and James quickly disagreed. In the end, Tony laid out on the table and all six babies spread out over the reactor. 

There was a photo that surfaced later that let Tony know that Clint was still hiding in the vents.

There were three girls and three boys, all healthy. 

Steve held a meeting to discuss the important task of naming them all.

The boldest one was female, was the leader so they called her Peggy. The smallest one was also female and they called her Morgan. The biggest one was a boy and they called him Thor. The fussy one they called Veronica. The quiet one was a boy, and they called him Vision. Lastly, the trouble maker was named Loki.

After they were named, Loki immediately tried to escape the room and Veronica tattled on him. That led the Avengers to discuss the baby protocol then they discussed what would happen and who would be around in case of Avenger business.

They didn’t want a repeat of what had happened to the gosling’s parents. Which was understandable. Peter was still shaky over the fact that Ben took a direct blast from a laser for him. No one was sure how to work with Wanda’s powers since, apparently, she had caused the laser gun to explode and had trapped the enemy in a force field until they died.

They would figure out something, maybe get Thor to come and help. But until then, Jarvis would select someone at random to stay. There would always be at least one adult present, usually James, when the goslings went on roof outings. 

“Because it can’t be healthy for them to be stuck inside all the time.” Steve brought up. 

Tony knew he was right but he would still blame Steve for the incident.  
…..

The day of the incident was normal, or rather the evening of the incident was normal.

They had had a mission earlier that had required Spider-Man’s touch to complete. Which left Tony at home with the goslings. Much to the amusement of the rest of the team.

Since they were usually loud, Tony took them to the roof where he settled down work on a few projects. Harley had run the goslings raged so they were arranged around him sleeping tucked up like little fluff balls. 

He didn’t have to be notified that the others were back, he heard the roar of the jet’s engine. Also he could watch the babies. One second they were sleeping, and then Peggy bolted up, suddenly followed by the others. They beeped happily before running towards the roof’s edge, bobbing as they neared the end. 

Tony frowned, he hadn’t really noticed that they were getting bigger. That they didn’t fit in his hand anymore. Now they were able to peer over the ledge. 

When Peter and the jet came into view they started to honk, which was new to Tony. He waved at Peter as he headed over. 

“Quiet, demons. He sees you already. He isn’t blind. Or deaf for that matter.”

They ignored him like always, ungrateful little monsters. 

Peter waved back as he got closer, the honking increased as the goslings started bumping against each other to be the first to reach Peter.

When that didn’t work, Vision wiggled his way until he was on top of the divide. That was also new, thought Tony as he picked up the pace. 

"Get down! You can’t fly yet you loon.” 

Now that the others saw that it was possible they all climbed up too. 

“Shit!” Tony said, summoning his armor. 

As Peter cleared the final building, Loki pushes forward. Thor honked, bumping into Peggy, and then Morgan was pushed over the edge. Vision fumbled after her and Tony watched in horror as they all went over, even Veronica. 

The faceplate clicked into place. “We have a problem,” he said over the comms.

Peter was already spinning around, as Tony took off and the jet banked right, the side panels sliding open. Jarvis isolated each of the falling geese on Tony’s HUD. They had three minutes before the goslings hit the ground. 

James jumped out of the side of the jet to Steve’s protests. He caught one and used his arm to stop their fall. 

The shield was thrown into the building, catching another.

Peter webbed two to the side of the tower. Tony passed them as they honked loudly at being restrained in such a fashion.

Wanda levates another.

That just left Morgan who was spinning around too wildly for Peter to catch.

Tony put extra thrust into the boosters to catch up to Morgan, who squawked at him. The ground alert was beeping wildly and growing larger by the minute.

Tony reached out and grabbed her by the wing, curling his arms around her body. When they hit the sidewalk, they skidded and took out a truck in the process, but all the goslings were alive and accounted for.  
……

The media storm caused by the geese goes wild, and it took everything Pepper had and more to calm it all. 

It was with a lot of love and anger that she suggested that the geese be relocated to the compound while she handled the media. Tony honestly didn’t know why he didn’t do that in the first place. The compound really was a better place for the geese. They could run and swim, and there were no worries about the geese being hurt accidentally or in an attack.

James and Peter somehow convinced May to let them move to the compound. Tony thought that the country life would suit the two of them.

There is only one problem.

The fall had done major damage to Morgan's wing. So much that it had to be amputated. There was no other way.

A short recovery time had her back with the others and just as friendly and sweet as ever. However, they all knew that it would only be a few weeks before the geese would probably try to fly again. All birds did and, being migratory, the geese would want to go south.

It was Team Baby who called the meeting. It seemed that the geese had started to get their flight feathers in and were now trying to fly after Peter when he swung through the trees.

“They want to fly and we’ve got to do something,” Peter said. 

“I think we can teach them, or rather Sam can.” James said and it was a brilliant idea. 

“I think he could, but where should we take them? “Nat asked.

And Steve smiled. “Miami.” 

Tony thought, Miami... what could possibly be there except… Oh. That was good. Really good.

“That could work.” Tony agreed 

“And what of Morgan?" said Wanda. 

“We could make her wings like Sam’s,” said Harley. 

Tony started running the numbers, it could work. It was just that it wouldn’t be ready in time, and Morgan would need time to heal before she could use it. 

“She won’t be ready,” Tony said. 

“Then we strap her to Sam. That way she will know the way.” Peter replied. 

Tony thought that it could work.

“But what if they don’t follow Sam?” Pietro asked. 

“Then we make an ultralight aircraft. Me or uncle Bucky could fly it.” Peter said hopefully. 

“What happens when you get tired?” Pietro asked. 

“We take a van,” Steve said. “It can scout ahead. In fact, we could get an RV and that way we can camp, and have the equipment to repair the plane.”

Tony thought it over, that could work. “I’ll make two planes, me and Sam can change who leads.” The murmurs of agreement let Tony know they were on track.

For the trip, Steve would drive the RV, Sam and Tony would fly in the lead with the flock, and Peter and James would bring up the rear. Harley, Wanda, and Pietro would all fly to Miami to make sure everything was ready. Harley would also be sent with Morgan’s prototype wing to finish. 

The rest of the Avengers would return to the city because crime stopped for no one.

The training phase started off bumpy. The geese were unsure of Sam at first but once they made a seat for Morgan they went more willingly.

The ultralight was more of a glider with a motor, than it was a plane. Tony painted them up in red and gold, only to come back the next day to find that James’ was blue with a red star on the wings and Peter’s was red and blue with crudely-drawn black lines for webs.

Lord help him, but he let them keep them.

Sam's suit was almost perfect but Tony had to make another slower suit as all of his own suits were too fast for the geese, and if he went too slow he would fall out of the sky. They knew because they’d tried.

It took two months before everything was in place. The route was planned, the proper authorities were notified, before early one morning they took to the sky with Tony leading the way. 

The geese, who were now mostly grown, followed. Peter and Morgan took up the rear. Below them Steve drove so that James and Sam could sleep until their turn in the air. 

The geese could go about five to six hours without a break. They also seemed willing to fly at night, but no one in the group wanted to test that theory out. That and the fact that Tony had forked out extra for the super nice beds in their hotel left everyone ready for nighttime. 

Their only real problem was trying to teach the spoiled brats that they could sleep outdoors. Tony caved the first two nights because they sounded so pitiful and they’d never slept without him before.

Eventually, James put his foot down, or rather his fist down, and even slept in the doorway so the geese couldn’t get past. In the end, everyone got used to the idea that this was a thing and accepted it.

The trip went smoothly and everyone settled well in Florida. They only worried about Morgan’s operation. 

They would need to make sure that she didn’t use the wing until it was fully healed. Which wasn’t easy with Loki around. Once she was all better and flying, summer was over and school was getting ready to start once more. On top of that, there were still things that needed to be done in New York. Life did not pause simply because one's babies were growing up. 

They eased away gradually, spending less time with the geese. It also helped their geese did make friends with other geese. 

What Tony really thought happened was that Wanda spoke to the others in their group and explained what needed to happen.

So it was with a heavy heart that they loaded into the jet and headed back home. Because at the end of the day the geese were wild animals and the Avengers were heroes. Those two worlds had no business being together. 

Even if Tony had ideas for geese armor, it was better that way.  
………

Tony had gotten word from Jarvis that the geese had left the Miami house a week ago. All of them including Morgan. Their nanotech showed them making steady progress north. 

Tony hoped that they would find a flock and assimilate with them, but a very small part of him hoped that they would come home. James had headed out to the compound with Steve, just in case they returned there. Peter wanted to go too, but school was in full swing and Tony was not willing to square off against May, not over this.

He was elbow deep in a project, new wings for Sam, when Peter walked into the lab and set his backpack down. He was working on a better webbing combination.

They had settled into a groove when Jarvis chimed in, “Baby protocol has been activated, they have arrived in the city.”

That was all it took for all of them to take off up the stairs and onto the roof. Once there, barely above the noise of the city, Tony could hear them honking loudly as they approached the tower with Peggy leading the way, Morgan at the center, and Vision bringing up the rear. When they saw Peter waving wildly the noise, if it was even possible, increased. 

Tony's face split into a grin as his kids circled around the building before splashing down in the pond, returning home from a very long journey.

**Author's Note:**

> According to the MCU timeline Peter Parker is currently 18. Which means that during Captain American WS he was 13. For this story I aged both Peter and Harley up to 15. Wanda is currently 18 or 19 some say even 20. I put her at 13 or 14. 
> 
> For meanings of flowers I went here: https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/flowers/flowers.html
> 
> Extra note: After Tony took down A.I.M, in this story I had him keeping Aldrich Killian's main base/mansion. Guess where that is? Miami ;)


End file.
